


What's In The Bag?

by Darkforesttrails



Category: The Blackout Club (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 08:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20355514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkforesttrails/pseuds/Darkforesttrails
Summary: Three kids get their hands on an evidence bag and discuss the contents. But everything isn't quite as it seems.





	What's In The Bag?

"I'm just saying, Will," With another smack of his gum, Darren closed his eyes and leaned back into his beanbag, comfortable and lazy. "If you keep being boring, you'll never get a date for Junior Prom." 

"And you won't get one either if you choke on your gum." Will responded. Darren couldn't see him, but he didn't need to to hear the familiar sound of exasperation followed by the commanding smack on his arm. He cracked open an eye, squinting up for a long moment, before grinning. It was a terrible idea that had just come to mind, but now he couldn't resist. He shifted in his spot, taking a quick breath before blowing it back out at his brother's face--

Sending his gum along with it.

Will shrieked like the devil himself was after him, flailing as he scrambled backwards. Darren's howls of laughter, though loud, were brief as his brother fell against the mission spot with a cracking thud. The table board flipped upwards and slammed back down in its spot. The lamp on the side slid down to the floor next to him. The chalkboard all but flew through the air and hit the corkboard on the other wall. Darren cringed and sat up from the bean bag, getting to his knees to crawl by him, shoving the (miraculously still burning) lamp to the side. 

"Oh, shit. Shit, Will, are you okay?" He held out a hand for him as he studied the scene. No blood. Hopefully no broken bones. Just one very dazed little brother on the floor and just one very angry fist aimed right at Darren's face. It was his turn to scream as he ducked, hitting the floor just in time to feel another series of blows to his back. 

"Dude! Dude!! What the hell! Why would you do that!" 

"Ow, ow! Come on, that was-ow-hilarious! You should have-damn it!-seen your face!"

"You mean my face that has gum wads and spit on it now?!"

"It looks better that way anyway--ow, god damn it!" 

So engrossed were the two in their fight, that they failed to notice the boxcar door was opening. They failed even harder to notice that one very small and very blonde classmate was currenly in their presence, watching two twins fistfight each other on the dusty planks of an old boxcar in the middle of the woods. To say she was confused was an understatement. 

"Uh...What are you doing?" The pair stopped mid-punch, slowly turning to stare at her like deer in the headlights. The room was silent for a moment, save the crickets and the occasional hoot of an old owl in the distance. Will and Darren looked at each other with a glare before standing up and brushing themselves off. 

"Nothing, Claire. What's up?" Will said, a bit too quickly, looking away from her with red cheeks. Darren clicked his tongue once, raising an eyebrow. It wasn't exactly a secret that Will thought Claire Deacon was pretty cute. Knowing him, he was probably more embarassed that she caught him losing a throw down. 

"Did you get the bag?" Darren asked, leaning on the table, only to jump back up and try to fix it when it started flipping up again. Oops.

"Sure did!" Claire unwrapped the grappling hook from her back, dropping it on the floor. "The other girls are still investigating, but they sent me ahead with the super important stuff." She was proud as she held up the leather pouch for all to see. Darren took it in his hands, running his thumbs over the Chorus logo plastered across the front. Not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing setup, but it got the job done. He glanced back at Claire, noting the cuts across her cheek before flipping open the bag and dumping the contents out on the table:

A CHORUS-brand phone, two quarters, a set of industrial grade keys that looked like they opened something important, a scrap of cloth and an old bandage scrap with blood still speckled across both of them, and, of course, a small package that just read "SCRAPINGS" across it. Bingo.

"They really got a lot, didn't they? I bet we could figure out where these keys go with a little trial and error. But, anyway, that's not the coolest part! Check this out." An excited gleam was in Claire's eye as she reached around to mess with the phone. As expected, the screen woke up, only to show off a bright display box above a number pad. She huffed as she pressed buttons in a number of orders, trying to guess the code. Will tried to help, entering every significant Lucid number the club knew of. It all went about as well as expected. 

"Darn it!" Claire huffed again, stomping her foot after a good three minutes. "We thought it would be useful to take the phone off them! Like, you know, maybe there's some secret bad guy plans in there! So much for that. What a waste of time!" Will picked it up, studying it with a hateful stare. 

"Well, if we can't use it, we can at least make sure these assholes can't either." He sneered, already trying to pry apart the phone. Darren could hear the irritation in his voice. Will didn't like a lot of things, but Chorus was on the bottom barrel of his likes list. They'd had a lot of conversations about it, after all. Just as he was about to get the thing apart, however, Darren reached out a hand to stop him. He paused, looking up at him with furrowed brows and a clear question. 

"Will, bro. You're forgetting what club this is. Give it a night or two and someone will have this phone hacked to hell and back and we'll know everything on it. You mess it up now-" He gestured to the device. "-And it's all gone. Poof. Forever. No bad guy plans for us." He looked to Claire, grinning. 

"We have options, you know." That line alone brightened Claire up immediately. 

"We do have options! We can hack the PLANET! I can't believe neither of us thought of that!" She exclaimed with a clap and an excited squeak. Claire had always had a sparkling, almost infectious energy about her, seeping right into the fabric of her soul at the best and worst of times alike. Even when she was upset, it never seemed to last long. He was tempted to ask one day which anime she specifically stepped out of. But that was for another night. For now, they had bigger fish to fry. 

"Whoa there, don't get too excited or you'll attract the Dark Lord and who knows where we'll be if they find the hideout." 

"Well, if they do find the hideout, then I have a couple of newer and less shitty songs to suggest to them--" 

"Did you just call them the Dark Lord?" 

"Am I wrong, though? You know I'm not wrong. But anyway, leave this bag to me to me. I'll get it all sorted out." The other kids looked at each other then back to Darren. Claire put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. 

"What? Since when are you a master hacker, Darren?" She squinted at him, looking him up and down. "Wouldn't it be better if Will handled that?" She stepped closer to him as she spoke, her lips puckered in suspicion. "Are you hiding something?"

"I'm not. And no!" Darren stepped back, making some space between the two of them. "But someone has to stay behind while you go and find the rest of the party." He looked concerned as he stared outside. Claire followed his lead, poking her head outside of the boxcar door before checking her phone with a worried expression. "They were supposed to report back by now, right?"

"I didn't say that! But...usually they would have..." She swallowed, shaking her head furiously as she picked up the hook and replaced it on her person before hopping out of the boxcar with a determined air about her. Will, meanwhile, stared at his brother with that same, suspicious look. Oh, come on. 

"Why are you staying back? She's right you know, I could probably figure it out with a little time and effort." Darren shrugged, pulling another piece of gum out of his pocket to chew on. 

"Because-" He leaned close so only Will could hear him and his stupid, smacking gum. Predictably, he made a face and leaned away. "-It's safer to travel in groups than alone. Molly and Nadia might need help if they haven't responded back yet. You're practically a genius. If there's anyone who can make creative rescue plans, it's you, not me. Plus, are you actually complaining about getting to look like a big hero in front of Claire?" Will flushed in embarrassment as he sputtered, wordless. "You're welcome." He pushed Will in Claire's direction, shoving a taser in his open hand. 

"I'll work on the phone and get rid of these samples while you're gone. Just come back safe, okay?" He said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I really want you to come back." His voice went low and he and Will both looked down at the taser, gripped to the point of white knuckles. 

"...I'll be alright, Darren. I promise." He returned the shoulder clap and the two met eyes for a second before Will turned, jumping out and breaking into a sprint to catch up with Claire. Darren watched them go, idly chewing his gum for a long moment before he slid the doors closed and walked, alone, to the sleeper cart. 

He stared into the mirror before him, watching his reflection with all its darting eyes and sleepless bags. With a sigh, he fished a lighter out of his pocket, flipping it on and holding it to his reflection. The glass shifted and the shadows writhed behind him as he set it down in front of him. He didn't need to turn around to know they weren't moving anywhere but inside the mirror. He spit his gum into the bowl on the table with a frown. That was his last piece and it still had all the flavor. Turning around, he sat with his back against the table edge, closing his eyes to speak. 

"Hey, yeah. It's m-him. He means him. Alias, Darren Johnson. The stolen bag is here. Darren doesn't think he can return the samples without getting caught, but...he does have a phone that you're going to want back..."


End file.
